Software Engineer L3

Twilio Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 147,000 - 204,000; Full time

Job summary

Twilio is hiring a Software Engineer, Email Platform (L3) to build and operate massive-scale distributed systems within Twilio SendGrid. You will modernize backend services, optimize Go microservices, and contribute to dual-cloud infrastructure across AWS and Azure.

You’ll own features end-to-end, drive code quality, scalability, and observability, and mentor junior engineers while collaborating with product leadership.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating resilient backend services at scale.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools to accelerate code generation and debugging workflows.
• Proficiency in Go (Golang), Java or Python for production services.
• Cloud deployment experience with AWS and Azure core services.
• Infrastructure as Code via Terraform for automated provisioning.
• Distributed systems knowledge including datastores, caching, and event streaming.
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes in containerized environments.
• Familiarity with database migrations to managed services (e.g., AWS Aurora).
• OpenTelemetry or distributed tracing across microservices.
• Experience with mail transfer agent (MTA) protocols.

Responsibilities

• Architect and ship reliable, high-velocity features with low latency for critical traffic.
• Lead rigorous code reviews and enforce high testing standards across the Go codebase.
• Manage and enhance cloud configurations across AWS and Azure using Terraform; ensure observability.
• Promote a healthy engineering foundation, identify bottlenecks and plan refactors.
• Mentor junior engineers and lead technical sprint planning across distributed teams.

Skills

Go

Java

Python

Cloud infrastructure

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenTelemetry

Kafka

MTA

Tools

Terraform

Job description

At Twilio, we’re shaping the future of communications, all from the comfort of our homes. We deliver innovative solutions to hundreds of thousands of businesses and empower millions of developers worldwide to craft personalized customer experiences.

Our dedication to remote-first work , and strong culture of connection and global inclusion means that no matter your location, you’re part of a vibrant team with diverse experiences making a global impact each day. As we continue to revolutionize how the world interacts, we’re acquiring new skills and experiences that make work feel truly rewarding. Your career at Twilio is in your hands.

Hiring and how we work

We use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help make our hiring process efficient. That said, every hiring decision is made by real Twilions!

Remote work considerations

Also, while we are a remote-first company, you may be asked to report in person on an ad-hoc basis for team gatherings, functional off-sites or customer meetings.

See yourself at Twilio

Join the team as Twilio’s next Software Engineer, Email Platform (L3)

About the job

This position is a critical engineering role within Twilio SendGrid, requiring a hands-on engineer capable of developing, deploying, and managing highly available, massive-scale distributed systems.

Our systems regularly process more than 12 billion emails during peak events like Black Friday, and our throughput requirements continue to scale rapidly. As an L3 engineer, you will act as a key driver of execution within our core services. You will be heavily involved in modernizing our backend systems, optimizing our extensive Go-based microservices, and contributing to the design and reliability of our dual-cloud infrastructure span across Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

Responsibilities

In this role, you’ll:

• WEAR THE CUSTOMER’S SHOES: Architect and ship reliable, high-velocity features that handle critical traffic with low end-to-end latency. Partner closely with product management and technical leadership to break down complex system requirements into manageable, iterative milestones.
• BE AN OWNER (CODE QUALITY): Drive rigorous code reviews and push for maintainable patterns in our Go codebase, ensuring high testing standards (unit, integration, and component testing) are executed across the team.
• BE AN OWNER (INFRASTRUCTURE & OBSERVABILITY): Manage and enhance cloud configurations across AWS and Azure environments utilizing Infrastructure as Code (Terraform). Ensure deep observability coverage by standardizing metrics, alerts, and distributed tracing across core data pipelines.
• CHAMPION ENGINEERING HEALTH: Advocate for a clean architectural foundation. Proactively identify technical debt, system bottlenecks, and single points of failure (SPOF), balancing feature delivery with critical platform refactoring.
• MENTOR AND LEAD: Foster a collaborative environment by mentoring junior engineers, leading technical sprint planning, and sharing expertise across distributed engineering nodes.

Qualifications

Twilio values diverse experiences from all kinds of industries, and we encourage everyone who meets the required qualifications to apply. If your career is just starting or hasn't followed a traditional path, don't let that stop you from considering Twilio. We are always looking for people who will bring something new to the table!

Required:

• Experience: 4+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating resilient backend services at scale.
• Modern Development Workflow: Practical experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools (such as Claude Code) to accelerate code generation, automate testing, and streamline debugging workflows.
• Language Proficiency: Strong, hands-on production experience writing clean, idiomatic, and highly concurrent Go (Golang), Java or Python.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Solid experience deploying and managing production workloads in cloud environments—ideally with deep exposure to AWS core services (such as EC2, S3, Aurora, or DynamoDB) AND Microsoft Azure equivalents (such as Virtual Machines, Blob Storage, Azure SQL, or Cosmos DB).
• Infrastructure as Code: Proficiency with Terraform for provision-level automation and maintaining environment parity.
• Distributed Systems: Strong theoretical and practical understanding of distributed datastores, caching layers, and asynchronous event streaming (e.g., Kafka or similar queuing ecosystems).
• Systems Mindset: Strong foundational background in computer science fundamentals, data structures, and building self-healing cloud architectures.
• Prior experience managing high-throughput applications running inside containerized infrastructure (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with database migration pathways (e.g., transitioning traditional on-prem/relational datastores to managed instances like AWS Aurora).
• Experience implementing OpenTelemetry or distributed tracing systems across decoupled microservice platforms.
• Direct experience handling constraints related to network topology, proxy layers, or mail transfer agent (MTA) protocols.

Location

This role will be remote,but is not eligible to be hired in CA, CT, NJ, NY, PA, WA.

Travel

We prioritize connection and opportunities to build relationships with our customers and each other. For this role, you may be required to travel occasionally to participate in project or team in-person meetings.

What We Offer

Working at Twilio offers many benefits, including competitive pay, generous time off, ample parental and wellness leave, healthcare, a retirement savings program, and much more. Offerings vary by location.

Compensation

Please note the salary range information provided applies only to candidates residing in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Washington D.C., and Washington State due to local requirements. Compensation for candidates in other locations will be discussed during the hiring process. Please note that hiring for this role is not restricted to the locations listed above.

• Based in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont or Washington D.C. : $138,700 - $173,400
• Based in New York, New Jersey, Washington State, or California (outside of the San Francisco Bay area): $146,800 - $183,600
• Based in the San Francisco Bay area, California: $163,100 - $203,900.
• This role may be eligible to participate in Twilio’s equity plan and corporate bonus plan. All roles are generally eligible for the following benefits: health care insurance, 401(k) retirement account, paid sick time, paid personal time off, paid parental leave.

The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location.

Applications for this role are intended to be accepted until 7/28/2026, but may change based on business needs.

Twilio thinks big. Do you?

We like to solve problems, take initiative, pitch in when needed, and are always up for trying new things. That's why we seek out colleagues who embody our values — something we call Twilio Magic . Additionally, we empower employees to build positive change in their communities by supporting their volunteering and donation efforts.

Stay alert to recruitment fraud

We care about your safety. Scammers sometimes impersonate Twilio recruiters through fake job postings, emails, websites, or messages. Please ensure you are engaging with an official @ twilio.com email address. We will never ask for payment, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or banking information during the recruiting process. We do not make job offers without a formal interview process or conduct interviews exclusively through text-based messaging apps.

Updated - Twilio is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer

We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Additionally, Twilio participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.